Inside Lacrosse's Sunday Finest: Full-strength Buckeyes Get it Done

In honor of the Daytona 500 this weekend, and the 10th anniversary of the death of legend Dale Earnhardt, Inside Lacrosse's Sunday Finest (ILSF) starts down South -- with North Carolina's loss, a few Southern boys who shined in Loyola's 9-8 victory over Navy and an interesting night in Virginia...

OHIO STATE'S VICTORY LAP: Ohio State fielded its full lineup for the first time in 2011 and defeated No. 3 North Carolina, 13-8, at Ohio Stadium.

Several players had been suspended for the first two games, a 4-3 victory over Detroit-Mercy on Feb. 10 and a 20-2 victory over Mercer on Wednesday. Three players missed the Mercer game and five missed Detroit-Mercy. Ohio State confirmed the suspensions on Sunday afternoon.

At full strength, the Buckeyes (3-0) were impressive. Sophomore attackman Logan Schuss had three goals, two assists and two caused turnovers. At least two of the goals came while he was defended by senior standout Ryan Flanagan.

One of those was an over-the-head shot; it's on the highlights on the Ohio State web site and very much worth a look.

Billy Bitter finished with a goal and two assists for the Tar Heels (1-1). He was guarded either by junior Keenan Ochwat or classmate Joe Bonanni; the third starter, junior Matt Kawamoto, guarded freshman Nicky Galasso.

One other Buckeyes defenseman worth a mention is freshman longstick middie Joe Meuer (McDonogh, Md.). He tied Ochwat with a team-high five groundballs. Several high school coaches thought Meuer was the best player in the MIAA last year, along with goalie Greg Dutton, a Calvert Hall grad who made eight saves for the Buckeyes on Saturday.

One other note, it was the last regular season game between the teams. Coach Nick Myers said afterward they would scrimmage but that the game, which featured Myers's brother, Pat, and close friend Joe Breschi on the UNC coaching staff, had become difficult for the winner and loser.

GOOD OLD BOYS: Loyola's 9-8 victory over Navy on Saturday in Baltimore had a definite Southern accent, with major contributions from players from North Carolina and Georgia.

Sophomore attackman Mike Sawyer scored a game-high three goals. It was Sawyer's first game since late in 2009; he was suspended before the season finale that year, then sat out last year. He also missed the preseason scrimmages with a concussion.

Sawyer went to Charlotte (NC) Catholic and is an impressive shooter -- coach Charley Toomey said in the preseason the coaches were "in awe" of his shooting.

Meantime, sophomore Scott Ratliff, a native of Marietta, Ga., played a crucial role as the Greyhounds came back from a 7-2 deficit.

The comeback was fueled by a dominance in time of possession. Loyola won eight of nine face-offs in the second half; by my count, with help from the official play-by-play, that dominance led to them controlling the ball for 21 minutes.

The face-off unit is Ratliff, the longstick on the wing; sophomore Josh Hawkins, the shortstick on the wing; and senior face-off specialist John Schiavone.

Schiavone said after the game that he only won a couple face-offs cleanly in the second half. The rest were rugby-type scrums, he said, where Hawkins and Ratliff did so much work "they should get the wins for those."

Hawkins finished with a game-high seven groundballs; Schiavone had five and Ratliff and Sawyer each had four.

Not to be outdone entirely on the Southern accent front, Navy freshman Tucker Hull, a graduate of Providence (NC) High, had a team-high two assists.

A DELAYED START: Virginia senior Adam Ghitelman, the team's starting goalie, was suspended for a 12-9 victory over Drexel on Saturday night in Charlottesville.

Coach Dom Starsia told reporters after the game that Ghitelman is expected back for the game Tuesday against Mount St. Mary's in a rematch of an NCAA tournament first-round game from last season.

Rob Fortunato started in place of Ghitelman and finished with 12 saves, including 10 in the second half.

Special mention to Drexel junior goalie Mark Manos; he finished with 19 saves and continued to show his best in big games. Last year, he made 18 saves against the Cavaliers and Notre Dame.

"That kid is a beast," Starsia told reporters after the game. "I won't be sorry to see him graduate. We knew that he was going to be tough, and you just have to keep shooting, trying to generate good chances, and just hoping to have a couple get in there."

BOLAND ESCAPES INJURY: One potential dark cloud over Johns Hopkins's 10-6 victory over Towson on Saturday came in the fourth quarter, when senior attackman Chris Boland limped off the field with trainers at his side. But Boland is okay, coach Dave Pietramala said Saturday night; the injury was merely a cramp.

In this weekend of the Daytona 500, Saturday could have been the Johns Hopkins 900: The Blue Jays won the 900th game in program history. Senior Kyle Wharton, who was held out of both preseason scrimmages, finished with three goals. Boland added two goals and an assist.

Towson opened in a zone defense. For a half, it worked -- the game was tied at 4 at halftime. The Blue Jays pulled away thanks to their E.M.O. and better ball movement. One particularly good goal, in the fourth quarter, involved a quick-pass-and-shoot with Canadian attackmen Zach Palmer and Brandon Benn.

Palmer, a sophomore, and Benn, a freshman from Culver (Ind.) Academy, may use that two-man move a few more times in their careers.

The Blue Jays started six sophomores and two freshmen on Saturday. I wonder how often that happened in their previous 899 victories...